Liquid leakage detector



June. 9, 1936. P. MONTGOMERY 2,043,857

LIQUID LEAKAGE DETECTOR Filed May 18, 1955 Patented June 9, 1936 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LIQUID LEAKAGE DETECTOR Philip Montgomery, West Hartford, Conn.

Application May 18, 1933, Serial No. 671,665

5 Claims.

My invention relates to the class of devices which are employed for denoting the presence of liquid upon floors or similar surfaces, and especially for denoting the presence of an inflammable liquid used in connection with oil stoves, or other heating devices, and an object of my invention, among others, is to provide a device that shall be simple in construction and especially efiicient in detecting and denoting the presence of liquid or inflammable substances in undesired places, as upon floors and similar surfaces.

One form of a structure embodying my invention and in the construction and use of which the objects herein set out, as well as others, may be attained is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a View in vertical section through my improved detector.

Figure 2 is a top view of the same with the cover or case removed.

Figure 3 is a view illustrating a little different form of the device from that shown in Figures 1 and 2.

In the use of oil burners, particularly for household purposes, a source of danger is present in the liability of the containers and the appliances themselves to improperly perform their functions, this to such an extent that oil is liable to accumulate underneath the structures on floors and in similar places and without its presence being known. Such a condition is extremely dangerous owing to the liability to ignition of such accumulated oil. My improved device, herein illustrated and described, is for the purpose of eliminating such danger by at once denoting aurally, visually or otherwise the presence of oil in dangerous localities and it is equally applicable for enoting the presence of other liquids in undesirable places.

In the accompanying drawing the numeral 5 denotes a case that may be of any suitable construction, preferably rectangular in shape and composed of any suitable material, and which may be provided with a cover 6 to enclose the apparatus as a whole.

This apparatus, in the form herein illustrated, comprises a signalling device in the form of a bell 'l which may be attached to a side wall of the case and which may be electrically or otherwise operated by coils located in a box 8 in a manner common to structures of this type, or by other mechanism. In the first named instance one terminal 9 of the coil is connected with the terminal ii of one pole of a battery H, the terminal 92 of the other pole of the battery being connected by a wire l3 with one terminal 14 of a make and break device for a current of electricity having its source in the battery I I.

My invention applies particularly to means for operating said make and break device by the employment of a substance or material that will be peculiarly aifected by the presence of oil but will not respond to the action of some other liquids. The invention also contemplates operation of the device as an effect of the presence of abnormal heat. There may be difierent substances or materials that will accomplish this purpose to indicate the presence of liquid, these, however, being unknown to me. I have, however, found that the substance commonly known as sponge rubber satisfactorily answers these requirements, this substance having expansive qualities when saturated with oil, but being nonexpansive to an appreciable extent when saturated with water. In adapting this substance, which I term an actuator, to my purpose I place such actuator IS in a holder I6 which is preferably open at the bottom so that the actuator will come in contact with or rest upon a surface as a floor H. In the structure shown herein an opening l8 is formed in the bottom of the case 5 and the holder !6 is placed in this opening with the actuator resting upon the floor IT. A fusible rod 19 connects the holder with a circuit closing lever 29 pivotally mounted on a standard 2| rising from the bottom of the box and insulated therefrom, as. is also the terminal I4. The lever 26 or standard 2| is in electrical connection with a terminal 22 of the case 5 as by means of a wire 23. A contact 24 on the end of the lever 20 is positioned to make contact with the terminal M for the purpose of closing the electric circuit.

The rod I9 is composed of a material, as metal, that will fuse at comparatively low but a dangerous temperature.

It will be evident from this description that the presence of oil upon the floor I! will saturate the actuator l5, causing it to expand or swell, thereby lifting the holder l6 and swinging the lever 20 on its pivot to cause the contact 24 to engage the terminal I 4, thereby closing the electric circuit and causing the bell 1 to be sounded to denote the presence of oil upon the floor. Should the oil or other inflammable substance become ignited the heat will fuse the rod l9 which will release the lever 20 and efiect operation of the alarm.

It will, of course, be understood that the case 8 is placed in proximity to a container for supply of oil as to an oil burner, preferably underneath such container, there usually being space enough underneath such containers for this purpose. The alarm, however, may be contained in the box or may be located in any desired position near to or remote from the case.

The device as illustrated in Fig. 3 is the same as hereinbefore described as to its main features. In this structure the device is equipped to issue a warning of undue flow of oil in connection with heating apparatus, as furnaces and the like, wherein a pan 25 is located to catch any excess flow of oil which may be occasioned by reason of the failure of any parts of the apparatus to operate, such oil dripping into the pan flowing downwardly through a tube 26 opening downwardly from the pan toward the open end of the holder Hi. In case the oil burner apparatus fails to operate to an extent to prevent undue flow of oil the detector will promptly denote such fact in the manner as above described including fusing of the rod I!) in the event of fire.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes I have described the principles of operation of my invention together with the device which I now consider to represent the best em bodiment thereof; but I desire to have it understood that the device shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set out.

I claim:

1. An oil detector including an actuator composed of material responsive to oil by contact therewith to effect a change in its bulk, a signal device, and means including said actuator for actuating said signal device in response to contact of oil with said actuator.

2. An oil detector including an actuator composed of sponge rubber which by contact with 5 oil changes its bulk, a signal device, and means including said actuator for actuating said signal device in response to contact of oil with said actuator.

3. An oil detector including an actuator corn- 10 posed of material responsive to oil by contact therewith to effect a change in its bulk, a lever operatively connected with said actuator, a signal device, and means including said lever for actuating said signal device in response to contact 10 of oil with said actuator.

4. An oil detector including an enclosing case, an actuator composed of material responsive to oil by contact therewith to effect a change in its bulk, said actuator projecting through an open- 20 ing in the bottom of said case, a signal device, and means including said actuator for actuating said signal device in response to contact of oil with said actuator.

5. An oil detector including an enclosing case having an opening in the bottom thereof, a holder mounted in said opening, an actuator composed of material responsive to oil by contact therewith to change its bulk, said actuator being located in said holder and projecting thereoutof through 30 said opening, a signal device, and means including said holder for actuating said signal device in response to contact of oil with said actuator.

PHILIP MONTGOMERY. 

